


slowing to a trickle

by isthepartyover



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Comedy, Fluff, I love my boys, M/M, and canti, shared shower, sometimes you just wanna have a good time and nothing goes right, sometimes you're really fucking down and need someone else
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 01:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15830712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isthepartyover/pseuds/isthepartyover
Summary: >> from: tuxedo mask <3, 10/15 5:33 pmi’ll be there in about 15-20missed your face<< to: tuxedo mask <3my face missed yours moregonna start prepping then, you know where the key is <3(In which Ryuji's brain is being shitty, and just wants a nice night with his bf)





	slowing to a trickle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [canticle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/canticle/gifts).
  * Inspired by [a storm is coming in](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13491372) by [canticle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/canticle/pseuds/canticle). 



> this fic is for the wonderful [canti](cant-icle.tumblr.com) whom i love
> 
> this is inspired and based on [a storm is coming in](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13491372/chapters/30938649) which is wonderful and just what i needed this time of year, and i just had to write this as a thank you <3

Ryuji climbed the stairs to his apartment, feeling heavy and sluggish and worn down to practically nothing, wanting nothing more than to just collapse into bed and never come out, blocking out the stress and anxiety that being out in the world seemed to bring. 

He’d had the worst week, between shitty customers and long hours at work and being completely lost during that week’s study session with Haru and Makoto and watching both of him and his mother’s paychecks completely eaten up by paying rent and bills, the dark, pessimistic voice in his mind making it hard to keep himself afloat.

But Akira was coming over for dinner and to spend the night, the first time they’d been able to find the space for such a long stretch of time in their busy schedules since summer had ended, and Ryuji’s waited and wanted this for what feels like forever.

Stolen moments in the cafe and brief dates just hadn’t been enough, not after Ryuji had been spoiled with a whole month and a half of just the two of them.

He wasn’t going to let his shitty mood ruin this for him, not again.

Ryuji can manage to hold himself together for one night.

He takes a moment though, after stepping inside and toeing off his shoes, to lean his head back against the doorway to breathe, letting some of his stress bleed out into the simple fact that he was  _ home _ .

Ryuji’s phone buzzes in his pocket as he starts moving again, and he pulls it out, smiling at the top notification on the screen, already swiping to reply.

**> > from: tuxedo mask <3, 10/15 5:33 pm**

_ i’ll be there in about 15-20 _

_ missed your face _

**_< < _ ** **to: tuxedo mask <3**

_ my face missed yours more _

_ gonna start prepping then, you know where the key is <3 _

Another swipe and a few taps, and music pours out of his phone, something loud with a good beat to keep the storm in his mind at bay until Akira makes it there, and Ryuji starts to hum along as he gets to work.

Twenty-five minutes later finds Ryuji with a spatula in hand, making sure none of the stir-fry he’s making sticks to the pan as he attempts to belt out the song that’s playing on his phone, so loud and into both activities that he doesn’t hear the door behind him open and shut or the rustle of a bag being set down.

He does notice when a pair of arms encircle his waist, lips finding the hinge of his jaw almost immediately.

Ryuji jumps a little, and there’s a quiet snort from the man behind him as Ryuji turns off the stove and turns in his boyfriend’s arms.

Akira’s smiling at him, small and soft and gorgeous, as always, and Ryuji feels his own smile soften as well, taking him in.

“Hey, you.” Akira hums, quiet and a little jarring compared with the volume of the music still blaring behind them.

Ryuji answers with a kiss, one hand finding Akira’s waist, and the other into his hair.

It’s still too long, curling almost to the his shoulders, Akira too stubborn and busy with everything to just get it cut, preferring to just tie it back and be done with it, and Ryuji can’t really bring himself to mind at times like these, when he has a hand buried in the long, soft strands, Akira humming happily as he runs his hands through it as they kiss.

He smells of something sweet and floral, like he’d just come from the flower shop, and Ryuji decides there and then that it’s his favorite of Akira’s part time jobs.

They’re both smiling as they separate, still leaning into one another.

“Missed you.” Ryuji hums, “Dinner’s ready.”

“Smells good. Better than Leblanc.”

“Pff. You’re fulla shit, nothing smells as good as Boss’ curry.”

“Are you calling me a  _ liar _ ?” Akira asks, offended tone ruined by the way he’s smiling.

“Well, you are a criminal, so…” Ryuji retorts, grinning back.

Akira steps away and Ryuji feels himself turn red at the small whimper that comes out of him at the loss of contact, flipping Akira off when he smirks at him.

“And to think,” Akira starts, hand to his chest, “I brought my dear, wonderful, boyfriend something  _ special _ , and all he can do is  _ insult _ me.”

Ryuji scoffs, but something happy coils in his gut even as something in his head reminds him  _ you don’t deserve this, you’re too cruel, too aggressive- _

“You got me something?” he asks, and Akira grins sweetly at him before rocking back on his heels and then pulling a bouquet of flowers from behind his back.

It’s  _ beautiful _ , greens and yellows and oranges coming together into something bright and wonderful, and Ryuji doesn’t realize he’d pushed himself off the stove and towards Akira until he’s reaching out and touching one of the petals between his fingers, trying so hard to be gentle.

“You like it?” Akira asks, and Ryuji looks up and away from the flowers to smile and nod.

“I love them.”

Akira’s smile somehow gets softer, sweeter, and Ryuji is struck with how wonderful and new this look is, how much he’s in love with him.

“Let me get these in a vase and we can eat.” Akira hums, pulling away with his sensible ideas, and Ryuji lets out a fake little groan as he goes to follow.

“I hate that you’re right,” he sighs, lifting the pan off the stove and turning to plate the food, only to collide with Akira and the tall cup he was using instead of a vase.

Grease and vegetables and noodles and water go  _ everywhere _ , on Akira and Ryuji and the floor, the wonderful bouquet utterly crushed in the wreckage, and there’s a moment of quiet before Ryuji looks up and at Akira’s face.

The absolutely  _ horrified _ look he sees is just like the one he wore when they first kissed, and Ryuji can’t help the laughter that bubbles from him, even as the liquid starts to sink through his clothes and into his skin, cold and sticky and cloyingly sweet.

“I-oh my  _ god- _ ”

“Good thing I needed a shower, isn’t it?”

“But  _ dinner- _ ”

“We can order in and throw on a movie. ‘Sides, wasn’t my best cooking.”

Akira looks both cheered upset by the comment for the slightest of moments before it falls again, and he opens and closes his mouth a couple times before he deadpans, “If you make a drowning joke, I’m breaking up with you.”

Ryuji loses it again, scrambling after Akira as he turns and storms off in the direction of Ryuji’s bathroom.

“At least help me clean up first!”

***

The water is warm and so is Akira, both of them tangled together under the spray, neither wanting to seperate for long enough to actually get some washing done, and Ryuji doesn’t think he minds too much, not when Akira is practically putty in his arms, not when he’s making the sweetest sounds for him,  _ because _ of him...

It’s an intoxicating power, being able to reduce the great Kurusu Akira to wordless sounds, and Ryuji doesn’t think he’ll grow tired of it, not even as his brain starts echoing that he doesn’t deserve this, doesn’t deserve anything this good.

They separate when they both grow dizzy from lack of air, neither going very far as they stand there under the spray, just breathing each other in.

It’s  _ so  _ nice, so  _ good _ to have a moment like this, a quiet moment with just the two of them pressed skin to skin without expectation, without anyone or anything to come and interrupt them for once.

If only Ryuji’s traitorous brain would let him enjoy it and would stop reminding him of all his failures and shortcomings, if his leg would stop throbbing and his bones would stop feeling so heavy, he’d be truly happy in this moment.

But, none of that is happening, and Ryuji can’t relax, a restless sort of exhaustion filling him, and he’s about to say something, about to herd the both of them out of the small, cramped shower, when Akira yawns.

He sounds just as bone achingly exhausted as Ryuji feels, and Ryuji can’t help but catch it, yawning as well as he watches his boyfriend frown.

“Tired?” Ryuji asks, and Akira’s frown deepen before it’s smoothed away by the neutral look he usually wears.

“No.” he replies, leaning in for another kiss, which is interrupted by another yawn, “ _ Dammit. _ ”

And now that he knows, Ryuji can see the worn, exhausted look he remembers all too well from two years ago, when there was  _ so much _ happening between Niijima-san’s palace and Akechi and the plan and  _ school _ , bags under Akira’s eyes and the way he held himself less upright, leaning into Ryuji like he was the only thing keeping him standing.

“Dude, you’re clearly tired, let’s go-

“No, I’m good, really.”

“‘Kira-”

“I missed you.” Akira confesses, “I missed you, and this weeks been shit, and I just wanted a nice night to decompress with you like we did over summer, and I don’t want to ruin it by being  _ tired _ and I  _ ruined _ your flowers and dinner-“

Ryuji’s heart suddenly swells with affection for this wonderful, stubborn, kind, silly gift of a man and he laughs, genuine and loud and  _ happy _ , the fact that Akira needed this just as much as him brightening the darkness of his mood.

Akira’s watching him, still pressed up against Ryuji, sleepy eyes filled with warmth and a little confusion, wet hair in his eyes, and Ryuji can’t help but kiss him then, trying to pour all his gratitude and love into the soft press of lips.

“And here I thought I was gonna fuck this up with my shitty mood.” He murmurs into the minimal space between the two.

Akira’s brow furrows, worry joining the emotions on his face, and Ryuji kisses him again before he can say anything.

But Akira, stubborn worrywart that he is, pulls away.

“What’s wro-“

“Just a bad mood. I also had a rough week, ‘s nothing.” Ryuji interrupts, shaking his head when Akira frowns and opens his mouth again. “I promise, it’s not like a coupla months ago. You’re making it better.”

Akira’s still frowning at him, and Ryuji can’t help the little laugh that bubbles out of him.

“None of that, okay? I’m good, and I just wanna lie down with my boyfriend and eat terrible takeaway, if that’s okay?” Ryuji asks, laughing again at the brief unhappy face that Akira makes at him. “What, you got plans or something?”

“I wanted to-well. I was  _ hoping _ -“ Akira starts, before he’s interrupted by another yawn.

“Alright, well, whatever it is you were hoping for is gonna have to wait.” Ryuji says, reaching over to turn the water off, laughing even harder at the honest-to-god  _ pout  _ Akira gives him at the words, “I’m not gonna let either of us drown this time just ‘cause you’re dead on your feet.”

Akira’s face goes red at the mention of drowning, and he pushes off of Ryuji to climb out of the shower, reaching for one of the towels, saying, “Never mind, I hate you. You’re awful.”

“No, you don’t.” Ryuji sings, snagging the towel from Akira’s hands and plopping it on his head instead, drying his boyfriend’s hair for him, hearing his own voice suddenly go soft as he continues, “‘Sides, there’s no getting rid of me now even if you did. I’m here for good, like it or not.”

The implications of what he’d said hit him right as he finishes talking, and Ryuji feels himself freeze as his face flushes, hands stilling on the towel.

Akira looks at him, studying his face for a long moment before his lips twitch up slightly, and he leans their foreheads together.

“Good.” He hums, “‘cause I don’t plan on letting you go.”

**Author's Note:**

> comment, kudo, and come visit me and yell at [tumblr](flipwizardmcgay.tumblr.com)


End file.
